If you are in the Buckeye state, and if you use the NEC®, and if you are wondering “What’s new and different in the 2017 edition?”, then you need to attend our upcoming one day NEC (2017) Significant Changes 1-day Classroom Training. This program is being offered to coincide with the State of Ohio’s adoption of the 2017 edition of the NEC that becomes effective on November 1st. Taught by NFPA’s (and Ohio’s) own Tim McClintock, this one day program will take you through the significant changes in the 2017 edition of the National Electrical Code, including a review of five new articles and revised requirements addressing industry trends in new technology including delivery and generation of electric power. Two classes are scheduled for this November in Columbus and Fairlawn. Don’t wait to sign up for this class as seats are limited. As a professional doing business in the State of Ohio as a Facility Manager, Contractor, Installer or Designer, it is great way to learn about the changes. For state licensed contractors, earn .8 CEUs (8 hours) towards your annual renewal requirements. CEUs will also be offered for other licensures. (please verify applicability with your professional board or organization).

Reminder: the public input closing date for the 2020 edition of the NEC® is Thursday, September 7 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time. We can no longer accept submissions of public on paper or through email. All submissions must use our online submission tool, which can be found at www.nfpa.org/70next.

If you have any questions about how to use the tool, I will be conducting a webinar on Friday, September 1 at 11:00 am Eastern (8:00 am Pacific).

At this year's NFPA Conference and Expo, the NFPA Electrical Section will be awarding the first Richard G. Biermann Award for outstanding service to the National Electrical Code. Today, our library located this article on the award's namesake, Dick Biermann. I would like to share this great profile of our most prominent volunteers. Subsequent to this article, Dick served on the NFPA board of directors and was the recipient of NFPA's highest volunteer award, the Paul Lamb award.

The 2016 Richard G. Biermann Award will be presented during the Electrical Section dinner on Tuesday evening, June 14. I hope that you can join us!

Harnessing the power of wind is an intriguing idea, but far from new. Wind power was used to propel ships to the new world in 1492. With conventional fossil fueled generators, after you buy the generator, you have to buy the fuel. The constant need to buy fuel doesn’t end until the machine is finally taken out of service.

Individual wind turbines and larger wind farms are springing up in a lot of places. Unlike their fossil fueled counterpart, there is no fuel to purchase. What a great concept, no fuel bill! No pollution! It isn’t quite that simple. There are a lot of factors that must be considered when evaluating the viability of a new wind project. Here are a couple of interesting documents posted online that provide some interesting insights on what must be considered for a wind project:

Please join the Electrical Section for this panel discussion on Wednesday at 11:00-12:30 in Room 502 ab. The panel will consist of 13 presenters who will present a variety of industry perspectives on how a broad spectrum of constituents have worked together for 118 years to develop electrical safety requirements. This fast-paced presentation will demonstrate how important it is that industry work together to identify hazards and to update the requirements so that the code is able to address the ever changing electrical industry. The presentation will point out how important it is that jurisdictions adopt the latest edition of the code.

John discussed UL standards for safety evaluation of PV equipment. He also reported on recent research performed by UL, including hazards that first responders may face. He also addressed current requirements for rapid shutdown. His PowerPoint presentation is packed with useful information. It will be available through the NFPA Conference & Expo mobile app.

John Kovacik chaired the NEC DC task group. For the current cycle, the task group developed three proposed new articles for consideration by CMP 13. The new articles are:

Article 706-Energy Storage

Article 710-Microgrids

Article 712-DC Microgrids

CMP 13 created first revisions based on proposed new Articles 706 and 712. CMP 13 resolved the public input for Article 710. However, CMP 4 developed a first revision for Article 705 that would capture many of the requirements for stand-alone and intentionally islanded systems.

John's power point presentation is packed with useful information on the task group's work and the panels' disposition of the work. His presentation is now available in the mobile app for the 2015 Conference and Expo.

I am pleased to announce that the NEC First Draft Report is available at www.nfpa.org/70next. This is several weeks earlier than scheduled! I am developing online training on how to navigate the report, including how to submit public comments. The training will be presented live to allow Q&A. A recorded version will be posted here and on docinfo.